1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to elastic bandaging material. More specifically, the present invention relates to elastic bandaging material having a reduced stiffness and improved hand and softness without a significant reduction in the tearability thereof.
2. Prior Art
In many instances, especially for example during preparation for athletic events, it is common for a person to wrap bandaging material about various joints such as the knee, ankle, elbow, or wrist, in order to reinforce and strengthen the joint against injury during participation in the athletic event. For this purpose, elastic-type wraps or bandaging materials have been used to reinforce the joint by wrapping the material about the joint in a plurality of layers. It has also been preferable in many such situations to use a wrap or bandaging material which is adhesively coated to ensure that the material remains in place during repeated flexing of the joint and movement of clothing or equipment thereover.
Prior art types of bandaging material which include an adhesive coating have often suffered from lack of flexibility and extremely poor breathability. Further, prior art adhesively coated bandaging materials are generally brittle in feel and stiff in hand due to the various coatings (or layers) of agents applied thereto which facilitate their manufacture and use.
For example, Hoey, U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,754, discloses an adhesively coated elastic bandaging material and a method of manufacture thereof. A fabric web is conveyed in a fully stretched condition and an adhesive coating is applied thereto in a high heat environment. By applying the adhesive material to the fabric while in a fully stretched condition, the resulting bandaging material of Hoey tends to have relatively poor breathability when used, due to the contiguous uniform coating of adhesive material thereon which is substantially air impermeable. Further, the high heat environment used in the manufacture of Hoey's bandaging material tends to cause the stretch warp yarns in the fabric thereof to loose a substantial amount of their original elasticity.
Edison et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,400, attempts to solve some of these problems by an alternative method of manufacturing an elastic bandaging material which includes conveying a continuous web of fabric in a substantially relaxed condition to receive an application of adhesive thereon directly subsequent to a preparatory application of steam. The adhesive is applied in a level layer to the entire backside of the relaxed fabric web and a stiffening agent and a release agent are applied to the face side. The resulting bandaging material has a continuous adhesive layer which has a smooth exposed'surface and a substantially uniform depth throughout when the material is in its relaxed state. However, when the material is stretched in use, the adhesive layer thereon is pulled into a discontinuous surface which is entirely absent of adhesive in areas, thus allowing breathability of the material when in use. The stiffening agent increases tearability of the material, and the release agent prevents sticking of the adhesive to the top surface of the material when it is formed into a roll for use.
Although the Edison et al. material is a significant improvement over Hoey in its method of producing an elastic, adhesively coated bandaging material, it nevertheless leaves room for improvement.
For example, the Edison et al. bandaging material has a very high cross-sectional profile, due to the weave pattern of the fabric used therein, which tends to generate bulkiness when the material is wrapped in layers upon itself about a person's limb or joint. Further, and more importantly with respect to the present invention, due to the stiffening agent on the face side of the material which assists in increasing the tearability thereof, the material's face side is relatively brittle in feel, having a stiffness that is less than desirable for some uses. For example, the relatively rigid and rough feel of the face side of the Edison et al. material can be somewhat uncomfortable and even develop into a source of irritation to the user during use.
There therefore continues to exist a need in the prior art to develop an elastic, adhesive bandaging material which exhibits the characteristic of good tearability, yet is also significantly softer than the above described prior art material and has an improved hand and comfort in use.